You can’t ignore a good top on a guitar, its the first thing people see when you open the case and its always facing the crowd while you’re out gigging. Everyday we focus on the tops, but not today; today we want to show you some of the best backs in the game. These are just a few of the guitars we are privileged to work on each day here in our Maryland factory - each one crafted with care and attention to detail. Enjoy!

It’s our 30th Anniversary year and we’re pretty excited about it. Paul started this business in 1985 in the attic of an old building in downtown Annapolis, MD. He started building these guitars called the PRS “Custom” and they caught people’s attention pretty quickly. Check out this story to learn more about the guitar that started it all.

We had a wonderful time this year at the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) tradeshow. Approximately 90,000 people gather each year in Anaheim, California to celebrate music and represent their brand in the industry. The PRS booth this year was buzzing with excitement as we displayed all of our products across all of our product lines: Private Stock, Core, S2, SE, and Amplifiers. Check out the photos in this blog post to see our booth and the products we are proud to display!

The Paul Reed Smith Tech Center (PTC) is a group of talented guitar repairmen who are dedicated to the responsible repair and authentic techniques true to a PRS guitar’s original construction. Thousands of customers from around the world trust our PTC for anything from a setup to a complete guitar overhaul.

2014 was a busy year for us here at PRS Guitars. We jam packed 2014 with exciting product launches and new offerings. We’re going to try and sum it all up for you here and cover all of our product categories: SE, S2, Core, Private Stock, and Amplifiers.

Here at PRS we pride ourselves on keen attention to detail and human hand work on each guitar and throughout every stage of manufacturing. The guitar’s stain and finish is no exception! Check out these cool videos highlighting how our “Prism” and “Blue Fade” finishes are created.

The holiday season is quickly approaching and it’s time to think about all the cool gear you can get your guitar-minded friends (or yourself)! Our PRS store stocks cool apparel, strings, parts, and guitar care accessories - all at great prices. Check out this blog post to get an idea of some of the sweet products we offer.

Since our announcement of the S2 line of instruments last year, we have been working hard to develop new guitars in the S2 family that look, feel, and sound great. We recognize that to many guitarists, the look of the guitar on stage is almost as important as its tone. With that said, our finish department has been working hard to develop a few new colors that we are proud to present on all of our maple top S2 guitars. Check out the new colors!

The Custom 24 is the quintessential PRS guitar. This iconic instrument was the first model that Paul Reed Smith brought to the public at PRS Guitars’ first Winter NAMM show in 1985 and has been a top seller ever since.

This guitar is so popular because it gives a musician so many different tonal options in just one guitar. A player doesn’t need to mess with his or her amp in the middle of a gig to pull a different tone. When a new tone is needed, we’ve made it as simple as a flick of a finger.

Last year we introduced our S2 line of guitars with the idea of offering high-quality American made guitars at a more affordable price. We started with three models: the S2 Mira, the S2 Starla, and the S2 Custom 24. Since then, we have added 5 new models for a total of 8 product offerings in the S2 Series.

We are proud of how they look, how they feel, and most importantly how they sound. Each guitar in the lineup sounds a bit different and produces different tones. However, one thing that all of the S2 models share is their simple yet intelligent control layout that helps the player achieve a wide variety of great tones. Check out this blog post to see how it all works.

Our S2 Starla model has been out for a little over a year now, in that time it has been played by thousands across the country and tour-tested by a number of our artists! As a company we believe in quality and craftsmanship and the S2 Starla is no exception. In this blog post we see what professional musicians have to say about the Starlas they tour and record with.

The Paul Reed Smith Tech Center (PTC) team members have more than 50 years of combined PRS experience. Their personal approach and in-depth knowledge of PRS guitars result in outstanding work. In this blog post, we explore a custom designed floating-style pick guard for a JA-15.

“Private Stock” guitars are custom-built and made to order. The goal of Private Stock is to create the most beautiful, best playing, and best sounding guitar money can buy. A customer ordering a Private Stock can select their own wood types, pickups, electronic configuration, and so much more.

Each month we will select one of these Private Stock built guitars and feature it on this blog. We will take detailed photos and explain the components that make the guitar unique.

From time to time, you may hear us toss around the phrase “Private Stock Guitar.” If you’re unfamiliar with PRS or you’re a new fan, this term may leave you a bit confused. In an effort to clear things up, give this article a read and allow us to briefly explain these special guitars.

“Private Stock” guitars are custom-built and made to order. The goal of Private Stock is to create the most beautiful, best playing, and best sounding guitar money can buy. A customer ordering a Private Stock can select their own wood types, pickups, electronic configuration, and so much more.

Each month we will select one of these Private Stock built guitars and feature it on this blog. We will take detailed photos and explain the components that make the guitar unique.

This guitar arrived to our PTC department at the PRS factory in rough shape. The neck was somehow still connected to the body but the body was broken and cracked from the neck joint to the bridge! On the back of the guitar, it was also cracked all the way to the edge of the electronics cavity. The only thing holding this guitar together was about an inch of unbroken wood.

The customer sent the guitar in to our tech center (PTC) hoping that we could bring the beauty back to life. The neck and body were reset and glued sturdily back in place. The guitar was then stripped of its finish and the PTC refinished the guitar in its original color. A final electronics assembly and setup made this guitar as good as new again!

If you love our core model guitars but wish you could spruce things up a bit, our Artist Package might be just what you’re looking for! With expanded options on things like maple tops, pickups, and finishes, you can get closer to building the guitar of your dreams.

The PRS Artist Package program is an exclusive platform for PRS Core electric guitars and acoustics that offers expanded options and enhancements on select models. Simply choose your model and pick from the available upgrades to create the most distinctive instruments and amplifiers available from the PRS Core production line.

“Private Stock” guitars are custom-built and made to order. The goal of Private Stock is to create the most beautiful, best playing, and best sounding guitar money can buy. A customer ordering a Private Stock can select their own wood types, pickups, electronic configuration, and so much more.

Each month we will select one of these Private Stock built guitars and feature it on this blog. We will take detailed photos and explain the components that make the guitar unique.

Imagine this..you’ve purchased your dream guitar and it feels and sounds great in your hands, BUT there’s just one little thing that you think would really make it tailored specially for you and your style. Enter our PTC department. They are in the business of making your guitar dreams a reality.

“Private Stock” guitars are custom-built and made to order. The goal of Private Stock is to create the most beautiful, best playing, and best sounding guitar money can buy. A customer ordering a Private Stock can select their own body shape, wood types, pickups, electronic configuration, and so much more.

Each month we will select one of these Private Stock built guitars and feature it on this blog. We will take detailed photos and explain the components that make the guitar unique.

This lovely green Hollowbody II showed up to our PTC center in need of some tender loving care. Unfortunately, the guitar landed on its headstock in the middle of an epic jam-session. This posed no threat to our PTC guys, they had her fixed up in no time. In a fortunate turn of events, this Hollowbody will live to shred another solo.

Good work, guys! If you would like to learn more about our PTC department, or send your own PRS in for repair, click HERE.

If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times, Paul Reed Smith is a tone junkie. From the woods to the finish, everything can affect the final tonality of your guitar. The pickups are certainly no exception!

Nearly every pickup for our core model guitars are wound here in our Maryland factory by a team of talented people. Additionally, each component of the pickup (wire, bobbin, etc.) is specifically chosen by Paul because he requires only the best for our instruments. We create many different types of pickups here at PRS so that our musicians can capture the tone they seek.

In the video below, Paul tells the story behind some of our most recent PRS pickups.

This guitar was sent to our PRS Tech Center (PTC) as a NF3 fitted with the standard three “Narrowfield” pickups. The owner was ready for a change so he sent it in to our talented guys here at PRS for some new life.

We were able to remove the middle pick-up, re-route the body to fit a larger 59/09 pickup, re-route the body to fit a Floyd Rose tremolo, and finally tie it all together with a new pick guard. It may sound easy, but our tech center worked hard to preform quality work while preserving the tone and resonance expected of this caliber of an instrument.

Every once in a while we will post a photo of an employee’s workspace.

This is Jeff’s space, he works in final assembly. Final assembly is the last stage in our guitar production process. It’s the place where tuning pegs, electronics, strings, and extra tender loving care go into our guitars.

Jeff’s job is to give our instruments a serious final inspection before heading out the door.

In addition to creating our core line of instruments, PRS has a team of highly talented, seasoned guitar makers crafting instruments known as “Private Stock.”

Paul Reed Smith says it best here: “The goal of Private Stock is not only to create the most beautiful and best playing guitar money can buy, but the best sounding. We work very closely with each order - through hourly discussions, experimentation, meticulous checks of every detail at each step in the process and making final tweaks when the guitar is complete - to make sure we are building the best guitars possible. If you get an extraordinary instrument from Private Stock that is equally as good as a family heirloom and a musician’s tool to make a living on, we have done our job.”

In the Spring of 2013, the Private Stock team built a limited run of one of our core line instruments, Paul’s Guitar.

In this interview, we sit down with Paul Miles, the Director of Private Stock, to get an inside look on the Paul’s Guitar Limited built by the Private Stock team.

In addition to creating our core line of instruments, PRS has a team of highly talented, seasoned guitar makers crafting instruments known as “Private Stock.”

Paul Reed Smith says it best here: “The goal of Private Stock is not only to create the most beautiful and best playing guitar money can buy, but the best sounding. We work very closely with each order - through hourly discussions, experimentation, meticulous checks of every detail at each step in the process and making final tweaks when the guitar is complete - to make sure we are building the best guitars possible. If you get an extraordinary instrument from Private Stock that is equally as good as a family heirloom and a musician’s tool to make a living on, we have done our job.”

In the spring of 2013, the Private Stock team created an all new inlay style available for order on any private stock guitar.

In this interview, we sit down with Paul Miles, our Private Stock director, to get an inside look on this brand new “Nouveau” inlay.

Hello everyone! Paul here. Last year at Experience PRS we got all of our best Private Stock dealers in a room and asked them to be part of a special program. The program would allow me to design and personally work on guitars at a more intimate level than anything else coming out of our shop. The program would feature exclusive specifications, such as pernambuco necks and celtic knot inlays. We would make one set per dealer each quarter – one acoustic and one electric guitar – making these instruments extremely special. That is when the Collection program was born.

David Grissom’s signature all mahogany DGT Standard guitars are running through production and are arriving at PRS Dealers now. The ordering window on these models is closed, but if you want to get your hands on one, ask your local PRS Dealer about inventory.

We’re using what we refer to as “Sinker” Mahogany for the necks on our Signature Limited models. We reserve this wood for special edition guitars and Private Stocks instruments due its rare nature and tonal qualities. So what is PRS Sinker Mahogany exactly? Paul explains in this video.

Pretty much all I’m playing these days is our Signature model, which was released as a limited edition at NAMM this past January. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t like all the other models we make, it’s that these instruments, for me, cover everything I’m asking an instrument to do.